U.S. Trade Deficit Declines in 2019 China trade gap falls significantly due to tariffs Washington. Federal data released this morning show that America’s enormous international trade deficit in goods and services fell in 2019 for the first time in six years. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the trade deficit dropped 1.7 percent to $616.8…
By Steven L. Byers, PhD and Jeff Ferry The US trade deficit in goods and services fell for the first time in six years in 2019. That’s according to US Commerce Department figures which showed our trade deficit dropped 1.7 percent to $616.8 billion in 2019. The drop in the deficit was all the more…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Chief Economist You are probably hearing a lot about 5G wireless, which is the next big thing in cellular telephone networks. The coming fifth generation of wireless will multiply the speed of cellular reception from around 100 megabits per second to multiple gigabits per second. This new technology will make many…
Editor’s note: Denying exemptions to China tariffs is good news. US companies have a greater chance to open new production lines and capture these markets when exemptions are denied. Make it here and there is no tariff risk. Officials say the levies encourage U.S. companies to build or source products domestically [Anthony DeBarros and Josh Zumbrun |…
Excerpt: A new FBI investigation has revealed, China is even attempting to steal medical and biological property from U.S. labs and hospitals. Americans have become increasingly familiar with China’s aggressive theft of U.S. intellectual property. Whether it’s Huawei stealing trade secrets from T-Mobile or a Chinese aviation company stealing the designs of 13 different aerospace companies,…
Excerpt: Digital companies aren’t the only ones avoiding corporate taxes. Plenty of foreign multinationals that sell in the U.S. are also shifting profits through tax havens… Over the past few months, a number of countries have been planning to impose new taxes on U.S. tech companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon. France in particular has aimed…
Editor’s note. This Fox News clip with Peter Navarro describes an important new initiative to stem the flood of counterfeit goods into the US. It also calls into question the longstanding program of allowing small international mail items into the country tariff-free. Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan and assistant to the president…
Editor’s note: The US China Economic & Security Review Commission had a very important hearing showing why we should not be seeking greater financial integration with China. Here is the video of that hearing. AGENDA | Hearing on “China’s Quest for Capital: Motivations, Methods, and Implications” [January 23, 2020 | USCC.gov] 9:15 AM – 9:20 AM: …
Editor’s note: We used to apply trade sanctions to countries that abused their citizens. The case of a Chinese student jailed for tweets he sent while studying in America underscores that being overseas is no protection from Beijing’s censors. [January 23, 2020 | Bloomberg] Luo Daiqing, who attends the University of Minnesota in the U.S.,…
By Jeff Ferry, CPA Chief Economist On December 9th, Harvard cancer researcher Zaosong Zheng was boarding a Hainan Airlines flight to Beijing at Boston’s Logan Airport when US Customs officials pulled him aside to question him about his luggage. According to an affidavit filed in US federal court by FBI Special Agent Kara Spice, Zheng…
